I'm soon to begin! I just have a few questions, I'd love a good result to start with. At what temp do you heat the solution on the stove and about how long does it take to begin bubbling? My plan is to use 250mg of white, 175mg baking soda, and a quarter cup of water. What size pot do you find works best for the quick and dirty? A saucepan, or a spaghetti type pot? I will be putting the flask in the pot directly, not using two.
Also, what does the tan actually taste like? I was unlucky in finding pv only after the original's disappearance so I wont be able to compare, although I know it will be different from the hcl. Next, how thinly should the product initially cover the shallow dish used for the evaporating phase? Should there be any noticeable depth or no? Last question. When adding additional distilled water to the product, how much would be ideal for the amount I will be using? I am so excited I feel like i
I let the water in the pot do a slow simmer, just a degree or two below boiling. If your not sure, let the pot boil, back off the heat slightly, wait 15 seconds and then insert your flask.
I use a saucepan with enough water to come about halfway up to the water level inside your flask. This way the surface water of the flask doesn't get as hot as the precipitate so there is less chance of boiling off the mdpv initial oil that floats to the top.
The bubbling is going to begin immediately on putting in the bicarb, even at room temperature (it won't be real "bubbling" so much at first - more like fizzing). The fizzing will stop after a few minutes, depending on the shape of your flask. Wider flasks will stop sooner. Test tubes, for example, take forever. When the fizzing stops begin the heating in the near boiling water. Don't let the water level in the pot go past halfway up to the water level in your flask. As the water in the pot evaporates, add more. About 15 seconds after the first sign of bubbling appears, remove the flask. If it begins a violent bubbling IMMEDIATELY remove the flask. Let it calm down for at least 30 seconds. For larger flasks, leave out longer. replace the flask. From 2 to ten minutes into this process a thin, translucent greenish oil will begin to form on the surface of the solution. When this becomes visible, begin agitating the flask slightly each time you remove it from the heat. Visible bubbles of light green oil will rise to the surface at each agitation. Do not agitate enough to disturb the surface oil. After the oil appears, allow the bubbling to reach a point just south of what you might call boiling each time you heat -- many bubbles simultaneously and a slight surface disturbance from the rising bubbles - but not "boiling".
Continue this until the dark yellow globules appear in or just above the precipitate. If there is still a greenish oil on the surface of the solution after the heavy yellow globules appear, continue gently heating and agitating until the surface oil is no longer visible, but be cautious. It's easy at this point to destroy the dark yellow globules through vaporization, so don't leave the flask in the water for more than 15 seconds at a time.
Total time - 45 minutes to three hours, depending on factors I don't yet have a complete handle on - although, the wider the flask, the shorter the time, generally. But I would recommend a more narrow flask at first - easier to see the yellow globules in the precipitate. A large test tube is the easiest by far, and would probably guarantee a better result for the beginning cook. Put the test tube in a glass of water to keep the tube kind of upright and put both in the pot of water. Just take the test tube out of the glass and put it back in the glass during the process - don't take the glass out, it will take to long to reheat. But the process will take a longer time.
Remove the flask and let cool.
VIOLENTLY agitate the solution after cooling and IMMEDIATELY pour into the shallow dish. The dish should be wide enough that the solution is barely measurable in depth - a few millimeters at most.
When you add water add just enough to cover the mix, no more.
The end product tastes pretty nasty, to answer your question - it is a mix of bicarb, sodium carbonate, trace mdpv HCL, mdpv freebas oil, whatever the yellow oil is, and the Tan.
P.S. Since you're only using a quarter cup of water, and if you have a wide flask, there won't be enough water in the pot, if the pot water level comes up to half-flask level, to safely do this without risk of vaporizing the oils. I would suggest you place a riser in the pot - an upside down cup - whatever, that you can place your flask on, so that you can have sufficient water in the pot. Small amounts of water in a pot on a stove change temperatures way too quickly for this process.
EDIT-- Brain fart! -- Forget the upside down cup. It will rattle and become unstable from water bubbles. Use a brick, a flat stone, or something solid.
EDIT -- P.P.S. I don't know your altitude and water boils at lower temperatures at higher altitudes. All of my work has been done at sea level. If the darker yellow globules do not appear with 10 minutes of the last visible rising of the light green oil, shake the whole mixture for 15 or 20 seconds so that the green oil is well mixed in, let the precipitate settle, and then begin the heating/removing process again. You may have to do this "shaking" a few times. This is what I've had to do if the water was less than 190 degrees F during the heating.